Lesbian Superheroes: Comicbook Women Who Like Other Comic Women

Growing up, I always liked the comic book heroes who were just a little bit different. Weirdos and mutants like the X-Men, outcasts like Spider-man, and especially woman heroes because no one seemed to give them the respect they deserved. Today, comics are trying just a little bit harder to have someone everyone can identify with although there have been some serious growing pains.

Here are a few of the unicorns of the comic book world: lesbian superheroes. Marvel, DC, and their competitors have introduced a number of different lesbian heroes. Here's an authoritative list of all the major lesbian superheroes that exist within the world of comic books.

Batwoman

Without a doubt, the most high profile lesbian comic book character in the world. Probably the most famous LGBT comic book character, for the matter. It meant a great deal when DC made one of the most high profile members of the Bat-family queer and it didn't hurt that they've always associated her with top notch talent.

Originally marketed as a hot "lipstick lesbian", Kate Kane quickly rose above stereotypes thanks to the excellent writing of Mark Rucka. Grounded in reality, Batwoman was removed from her position in the United States Marine Corps under the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. Without a job or purpose, she was adrift for years before she turned to crime fighting and took control of her life.

In Batwoman 17 she asked her girlfriend Maggie Sawyer, a Gotham City police officer, to marry her.

Karolina Dean

Runaway lesbian

It's hard growing up, especially if you're a 16 year old girl who prefers women over boys. It's even harder if your parents are secretly alien super villains who've made a death pact with an ancient evil. Yeah, Karolina has it rough. It's okay, though. She and her friends formed the Runaways and formed a new loving, supportive family.

Karolina has become one of the best representations of a lesbian teenager in comic books. Her coming out process was handled with grace, she's had to deal with a lot of the problems young people with alternate sexuality do, and she's had sweet, youthful romances without it being made cloying.

Karolina is currently dating Julie Power, a fellow superhero.

Mystique

Okay, so Mystique isn't exactly a hero. Much like her shape changing powers, Mystique's affiliation can change in single second. This mercurial beauty is not widely known for being LGBT, but she was in fact one of the earliest comic book character in an explicitly homosexual relationship. Although she's been involved with both men and women, Mystique has only had one true love: her long time female partner, Destiny.

Unfortunately for Mystique, their love affair turned out to be quite tragic. While Mystique's powers kept her young and beautiful, Destiny aged at a natural rate, growing old and dying. While Mystique has never been on the side of the angels, her current chaotic scheming can be directly traced back to the death of Destiny. The pain of her loss is still a constant undertone for the character.

Scandal Savage

Scandal Savage is an anti-hero and daughter of immortal villain Vandal Savage. While her father has big plans for his daughter that involve her continuing the family by bearing children, Scandal has other plans. An out and proud lesbian, Scandal won't be having any babies any time soon: she's too busy leading The Secret Six, a bunch of villains who often do the right things for the wrong reasons. Or the wrong things for the right reasons. They're confused.

Scandal is a world class fighter, a brilliant strategist, and a devoted friend. She's also a ruthless fighter who has no qualms about killing anything in her path. She's... complicated. She hasn't appeared yet in DC's rebooted "New 52" universe, but my gut tells me it won't be long before we see Scandal Savage.

Until then, the best place to check out Scandal and the rest of the Secret Six is in a trade paperback!

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Karma - Hard luck lesbian

The X-Men have always been a pretty explicit metaphor for minorities struggling for rights. That's probably why the X-books have always been so progressive about having racial, religious, and sexual minorities front and center on their team. Karma was one of the first out X-Men characters and definitely one of the most popular. She debuted bank in New Mutants and overtime has developed a significant fan following.

After an ill-fated attempt to pick up fellow X-Woman Shadowcat, Karma came out to everyone. Her sexuality has since been treated as no big deal, and she's been involved with various superhero teams ever since. Her ability to take over the mind and body of anyone she can see makes her one of the more powerful superheroes in the Marvel universe. Unfortunately, she lost her leg in a heated battle not too long ago and has been forced to make do with a prosthetic since then.

Other high profile lesbian superheroes

Renee Montoya, AKA: The Question - Renee's status as The Question is up in the air after the New 52 Reboot, but for a time she was the most high profile lesbian character in the DCU. In addition to being The Question, she had a romantic relationship with Batwoman.

Grace Choi - An Amazon and a real bruiser, Grace was a frequent visitor to Wonder Woman's comic as well as a member of The Outsiders.

Do you have a favorite lesbian comic book character? Any thoughts or feelings about who you'd like to see more often? Leave a message in the comments!

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